Dogs, they’re just like us. Anxious, impulsive, and drawn to pizza.
The dogs in Alison Friend’s paintings carry distinct personalities. Some snack on pastries. Others sip cocktails or sketch self-portraits on an Etch A Sketch. The behaviors read as human, but the delivery stays firmly canine.
Friend builds these scenes using the visual language of European Old Masters. Formal poses, subdued palettes, and careful lighting give each subject a sense of importance. The contrast drives the humor. A dog in a wool sweater holds the same composure as a 17th-century noble, even when the subject itself is absurd.
Her first monograph, Dog Only Knows, is published by Artisan and releases this month. The book includes 125 paintings, selected from a larger body of work developed over several years.
